Olivia Formby

Dr. Olivia Formby is a Research Fellow at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, elected in 2024. Her research explores the intersections of religion, medicine, and emotions in sixteenth and seventeenth-century England, with particular focus on ordinary people and marginalized groups like children.

Her educational background includes:

• Undergraduate studies and MPhil at the University of Queensland (awarded University Medal and History Honours Research Prize)
• PhD at St John's College, University of Cambridge (Cambridge Australia Poynton International Scholar under Professor Alexandra Walsham)

Dr. Formby specializes in reconstructing emotional experiences of historical subjects through medical literature, religious texts, and life writings. Her current project 'Children’s Language Development in Early Modern England' examines historical theories of language acquisition alongside children's lived experiences of speech impediments. She actively contributes to academic discourse through international conference presentations and knowledge translation for educational audiences.

Her publications reveal consistent analytical threads across emotional communities, plague experiences, and infant personhood:

• 2024 work connects sound studies with embryonic personhood concepts
• 2022 research analyzes divine wrath rhetoric in plague sermons
• 2021 scholarship pioneers emotional reading of historical wills

Key recognitions include:

• University Medal (University of Queensland)
• History Honours Research Prize (University of Queensland)
• Australian Postgraduate Award

Her research has received significant support from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions. Dr. Formby co-hosted the 'Age and Health, 1500-1800' conference at St John's College in June 2024 and maintains active engagement with both academic and teacher communities through tailored knowledge dissemination.